Expert: Marie Peppers / The Boston Terrier Lady - 12/20/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have a 4 year old male Boston Terrier. His name is Oliver. He has been suffering from skin allergies since he was about 1 year old. We have been in and out of the vet over the years with test after test and steroid shots when he was so bad he would start to bleed from itching so bad. The itching is always under his neck, the belly and under each leg (arm pit area). He will itch until he starts to bleed and get sores. When he was 1 I took him to the vet for the itching for the first time. The Vet said he was probably allergic to his food or the environment. I changed everything in the house to all natural cleaning supplies and no dye laundry detergent and it didn't change anything. We were feeding him science diet and the vet said that was fine. We had to start giving him allergy pills and those didn't work either. In the mean time we had to move into a rental house while our new one was being built and so we had him outside a lot and noticed he stopped getting the rashes and stopped itching, we noticed that when we brought him in he would get a rash and itch. So since we have moved into our new house he has been outside, but just recently he started to get red and now he is so bad he is bleeding and we have to go in for another steroid shot today:( I think he has a combo of environmental and food allergies. Anyway after all this I wanted to know if there is something nutritional that I can make for him for food and if there is something I should be using on him or in the house to maybe help him not have such a bad reaction when he comes in? Thank you.

ANSWER: Oh POOR Oliver!  Yes, I would love to help you.  I wonder if he has allergies to dust, dust mites, carpet...
Do you have a indoor cat?  Many dogs are allergic to cats.
I would like for you to change his food and do a few supplements...
Would you like to home-cook?  I have some great recipes...

Let me know if you want commercial dog food suggestions or the home-cooking recipes.????
I will also give you 3 supplements to start him on.
ALL that I offer can be done with Anything your vet gives you.  All my suggestions are natural and safe for your Oliver.

get back to me...

Marie Peppers LPN MA


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your response. We don't have any cats because I am allergic. We don't have any carpet in the areas that Oliver is in (it's all tile) and we don't let him in the bedrooms because of the carpet. I would love to home cook for him. I just didn't know what to cook and how much to give him. Also I wanted to make sure that he was getting what he needed nutritional wise. If there are any commercial foods out there that would be good for him I would love to know(just incase we are gone and need someone to feed him). Also we have had blood tests done on him and I think he was allergic to the dust mites and some other things as well. He was put on an allergy med and it seemed to work for a little while and then stopped. I really didn't like giving him all those meds though. He is a smaller Boston and weighs about 16 lbs. I just want him to have a good life. Thank you again. I can't wait to hear back from you.

Answer
Hi again,  Yes - let's cook for this boy and a good ( back-up) commercial food would be the Wellness Simple Recipes -
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/dog_wellness_simple_food_solutions_index.html

You can do the Wellnes 1 x per day and the home-cooking 1 x per day ....
OR - just use the Wellness as a back-up on days you are boarding your Oliver for vacation..

I would love to see your boy on a few supplements and the home-cooking recipes below:
I am here for you:  my private e-mail is:
mtnmom@gci.net

Let's get cooking.....  The food will stay good for 4 days without freezing it.

Dog food for Allergy dogs:

1/2 lb  lamb,  OR  1/2 lb  chicken  ( cooked )

****Six ounces tofu  - Or  "you can use 2 % small curd cottage cheese"  ( 3/4 cup or less)

1½ cups cooked brown rice, buckwhea or millet.

¼ cup grated or chopped vegetables  ( NO onions )  Grated is the best for digestion.
( peas, green beans are some favorites)

Daily supplements as recommended-  We use one NuVET Plus per day for a Boston Size Dog.

Combine the ingredients and serve.
Yield: about 3 cups  ( about 3 cups ----)

THIS would be enough for about 2 days of feeding
( you need to feed about 1 1/2 cups per day for your Boston -
With home cooking you have to work with it and see.  ( a little less or a little more)

For snacks - SEE if the WEllNESS makes a simple dry dog treat-  I know they have a grain-free one.  
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Give one Oyster Shell Calcium per day
the 300mg would be fine for you sized dog:
Hide in pill pocket or food:

Daily dose of oyster shell calcium:

10 to 20 lbs - 300 mg
20 to 40 lbs - 400 mg
YOU can get this at any Walgreens, CVS, Walmart - in the human vitamin areas.

NEXT - TO balance out the cooking - NuVET Plus
just give 1 wafer treat per day - as a treat or broken up into the food.
MOST dogs take NuVET as a treat.
This has a small amount of Calcium in the NuVET --- If you miss an Oyster Shell Calcium pill it is ok because the NuVET has some in the ingredients.   
You do still need the Oyster Shell 250 or 300 mg as x-tra from the NuVET.
( just wanted you to know, if you missed a day - your baby will still be balanced)
Call NuVET in the morning :  NOT sold in stores:  Holistic and VERY safe:
HELPS to lessen the allergies and itchies /PLUS balances out the home cooking.
NuVET helps to re-build the immune system -
1-800-474-7044
Tell them Pet Nurse Marie sent you -  use order code 81098 and ASK for the 15% off discount program .  You are looking for the NuVET Plus wafers -
they sell them at 20.00; 39.00 and 55.00  ( Depends on the size of the bottle.)
http://www.nuvet.com/81098

YOU MAY want to consider an air cleaner ( good hepa filter ) for the rooms he tends to visit.
A good air cleaner may help to keep the dust and dust mite population down.
The Cleanest homes can have LOADS of dust mites.....

Good luck - Happy cooking!  LET me know if you can't find the Wellness dry dog food- I can suggest another one.

Marie Peppers LPN MA
mtnmom@gci.net
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